Pipeline Proposal Meetings Scheduled in October

Proposals for upcoming Pipeline Maintenance & Service Agreement for Canada negotiations will be taken at all district monthly meetings throughout the month of October 2017. Following are the dates for the October monthly meetings across the province. TIMMINS October 4 54 Waterloo Rd., Unit 2, Timmins, 7:30 p.m. OSHAWA October 5 1255 Terwillegar Ave., Unit […]

Proposals for upcoming Pipeline Maintenance & Service Agreement for Canada negotiations will be taken at all district monthly meetings throughout the month of October 2017. Following are the dates for the October monthly meetings across the province.

TIMMINS
October 4
54 Waterloo Rd., Unit 2, Timmins,
7:30 p.m.

OSHAWA
October 5
1255 Terwillegar Ave., Unit 7,
Oshawa, 7 p.m.

THUNDER BAY*
October 5
979 Alloy Drive, Suite 101,
Thunder Bay, 8 p.m.

ST. CATHARINES*
October 10
188 Bunting Rd., Unit 5,
St. Catharines, 7:30 p.m.

WINDSOR*
October 10
3383 Walker Rd., Windsor
7 p.m.

SAULT STE. MARIE*
October 11
432 Great Northern Rd.,
Suite 203, Sault Ste. Marie,
7:30 p.m.

CAMBRIDGE*
October 11
100 Sheldon Dr., Unit 10,
Cambridge, 7:30 p.m.

SUDBURY*
October 17
430 Westmount Ave., Unit H,
Sudbury, 8 p.m.

TORONTO*
October 18
2245 Speers Rd., Oakville,
7:30 p.m.

BELLEVILLE*
October 24
1 Millennium Parkway, Suite 102,
Belleville, 7 p.m.

LONDON*
October 24
523 First St., London, 7 p.m.

HAMILTON*
October 25
35 Goderich Rd., Unit 5,
Hamilton, 7:30 p.m.

OTTAWA*
October 25
Best Western Plus,
1274 Carling Ave., 7 p.m.

NORTH BAY
October 25
Voyager Inn, Greenery Room,
123 Delaware Ave., North Bay,
7:30 p.m.

BARRIE*
October 26
240 Bayview Drive, Unit 12,
Barrie, 7:30 p.m.

SARNIA*
October 26
1390A Lougar Ave., Sarnia, 7 p.m.

* District hiring hall present

 

Gallagher says Health of Union is Excellent

The union is doing well financially and the pension and benefit plans are on solid footing, business manager Mike Gallagher told a general membership meeting Sept. 24 at head office in Oakville. “The health of the union is excellent,” he said in his remarks, noting that the number of active and retired members has surpassed […]

The union is doing well financially and the pension and benefit plans are on solid footing, business manager Mike Gallagher told a general membership meeting Sept. 24 at head office in Oakville.

“The health of the union is excellent,” he said in his remarks, noting that the number of active and retired members has surpassed the 14,500 mark, up from 8,500 11 years ago.

“That growth opens up opportunities for us to do other things because it brings more revenue into the local so we can expand. It won’t be long before we surpass 15,000.”

Gallagher said the union’s consolidated assets were $103 million, and members’ equity was $96.7 million as of June 30, up 10.2 per cent from the prior year.

Members are working on a number of large projects in the province, he said, one being the $5.3-billion Eglinton Crosstown in Toronto.

He said work is also under way on the $1.2-billion Highway 407 East extension project and a $12.8-billion refurbishment project at Darlington, work is expected to start on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project in 2018 and on a $13-billion refurbishment at Bruce Power in 2020, and a road into the Ring of Fire has been approved.

Gallagher said the pension plan, meanwhile, has surpassed the $2.5-billion mark and is on stable footing.

“Our pension plan is very solid and as strong as any of the government plans that are out there.”

While it took several years for the plan to fully recover from the recession in 2008, the plan is now doing well and on track to have another positive year, he said.

In 2016, the plan earned 10.7 per cent, up from 5.8 per cent in 2015.

Gallagher said trustees, acting on information from the actuary that advised the plan is in good shape, have made unreduced early retirement at age 60 a permanent feature. This means members can retire between age 60 and 65 with an unreduced pension.

The change has been approved by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

“It does not need trustee consent and isn’t based on whether we have a good or bad year,” said Gallagher.

The benefits plan, meanwhile, he said, collected $64 million in contributions and investment income in 2016 and paid out $62 million, while costs of the plan increased by 5.6 per cent in 2016 over 2015.

Gallagher said prescription drugs account for 30.9 per cent and dental procedures account for 24.8 per cent of claims and the top prescribed drugs are Humira and Remicade for arthritis.

Gallagher said the executive board recently approved the purchase of 6.14 acres of property next to head office from Procor Ltd. and eventually will tear down an existing building on the site.

For the time being, he said, Procor has leased half of the space back until December and another company is also renting space for two years.

Gallagher said construction will start in the spring on expansion of the banquet hall next to head office and, when completed, the facility will be 70 per cent larger with capacity for 750 people.

On the training front, he said the OETIO has erected a Liebherr 85 EC-B5 tower crane at the Oakville campus, which will enable students to be trained in top- and bottom-climbing procedures.

“There’s no other training institute in the world that offers this training,” he noted.

The OETIO, he said, has also completed a simulation lab at the campus in Morrisburg and has added to its fleet of simulators with various training scenarios.

Gallagher said the OETIO has purchased a 50-ton Liebherr duty-cyle crane that is scheduled to be delivered to Oakville by the end of October.

On the organizing front, he said the union is attempting to organize Baffinland, a large mining company in the Territory of Nunavut.

He said the union charter was expanded to include the Nunavut and it is incumbent on Local 793 to represent workers in the area.

He said staff and organizers have been at trade shows and are getting to know the people and lay of the land in Nunavut.

“It’s not one of those things that’s going to happen overnight,” he said. “But we’re determined.”

Gallagher said the union has been training Inuit on a fee-payer basis for more than 10 years and found they are very hard-working people and excellent operators.

“I’m hopeful that it will all come together at one point. This is going to be an ongoing thing.”

As for the future, Gallagher said a provincial election is on the horizon for next spring and, although some members might be frustrated at Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne, PC leader Patrick Brown and the Conservatives are very dangerous.

“A lot of them seem to be the same as the extreme Republicans in the U.S.”

Gallagher said Ontario needs a government that does the right things, not a government based on an ideology.

“We want people that are rational in government.”

Gallagher advised members to vote for a Liberal or NDP candidate who is friendly to the Operating Engineers in the upcoming election.

Union Heading in Right Direction: Gallagher

Local 793 continues to head in the right direction, business manager Mike Gallagher said at a special e-board meeting Sept. 23 in Oakville. “You’re starting to get used to me always getting up here and giving good news,” he said in remarks to more than 100 area supervisors, business reps, staff and delegates at head […]

Local 793 continues to head in the right direction, business manager Mike Gallagher said at a special e-board meeting Sept. 23 in Oakville.

“You’re starting to get used to me always getting up here and giving good news,” he said in remarks to more than 100 area supervisors, business reps, staff and delegates at head office. “But the truth is that the local continues to be on an upward trajectory.”

Gallagher noted that Local 793 has invested heavily in advanced equipment at the two OETIO training centres.

A new 85 EC-B5 tower crane erected recently in Oakville is a “jewel,” he said, and training staff should be congratulated, as a bottom climb of the crane has now been completed.

“Now we can get busy and provide the latest training to the industry.”

The crane will enable students to be trained in top- and bottom-climbing procedures. A six-storey steel structure has been erected around the base of the crane so it can be raised and lowered.

Gallagher noted that the OETIO will also be purchasing a 50-ton Liebherr duty cycle crane to augment its mobile-crane-training program.

“When you’re on top you got to stay on top,” he said.

Gallagher said training has advanced a lot in the last few years.

“Just take a look at the residence we built at the OETIO in Morrisburg,” he said, referring to the 70-room dorm that was part of extensive renovations to the building there.

“It’s a real class facility and we pulled that off without borrowing any money.”

Gallagher said the union purchased 6.14 acres of property next to head office in Oakville from Procor Ltd. and plans to build a residence on the land so students can stay on-site rather than at area hotels.

The property was purchased in June without a hitch, he said, and Procor is leasing part of a building on the property back from the union until the end of the year while another tenant will be leasing additional space for another two years.

“The property we bought has already been put to use bringing in revenue for the local.”

Gallagher said the value of the property has also increased, partly because of its proximity to a nearby Go Station so it’s already paying off.

“It’s been a great purchase and we’re lucky to have been able to buy it.”

Gallagher told the meeting that organizers are in the process of trying to organize Baffinland, a large mining company in Nunavut.

The union’s charter was expanded a while ago to include the Territory of Nunavut because it made sense for one local to be doing organizing there, he noted, and organizers are attempting to make inroads.

“We have taken that seriously and have been going to trade shows,” he said. “It’s not one of these things that you can snap your fingers and it’s going to happen. They don’t have a lot of experience with unions.”

He noted that manager of organizing Kyle Schutte was in Nunavut and met with the president of Baffinland.

Gallagher said he was also pleased that the provincial government intends to go ahead with a road to the Ring of Fire area and the union hopes to work with Indigenous communities and unionized contractors like Aecon when the bidding opens.

He pointed out that the union has already been training members of Indigenous communities in the area.

“My hope is that when the $1-billion-plus road goes to tender it’s our contractors and our Aboriginal members that they bring on board.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rightly spoke about Canada’s sad history with Indigenous peoples at the United Nations, Gallagher said, but Local 793 has already been working over the years to bring Indigenous people into the Operating Engineer trades.

Over the centuries, Indigenous people had promises to them broken all the time, and the best way to avoid that is to have a collective agreement in place to ensure contractors keep their promises, he said.

“We are match made in heaven when it comes to working with native communities.”

Gallagher said the union signed a Statement of Partnership with the Chiefs of Ontario last year in an effort to get more Indigenous people into the trades.

In his remarks, Gallagher said the union recently received good news from the province that Durham College will not be getting training delivery agent status for training tower crane operators.

The College had applied for status about 18 months ago and the matter was resolved by the Ministry of Training, but the school went back to the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) with more information and applied again.

Gallagher said he and OETIO executive director Harold McBride reached out to people in different ministries and he recently received notice that the College will not be approved.

“We got what we wanted which is very good for our local.”

On the green energy front, Gallagher said a coalition that he brought together, called the Renewable Energy Alliance of Ontario (REAO), has made inroads into ensuring renewable energy projects remain part of the government’s Long Term Energy Plan (LTEP).

The REAO was formed when the province announced it was cutting some projects.

“Instead of just sitting back and letting things happen, we got out and made things happen,” he said. “We’re going to keep after that.”

“We’re trying to keep the government on point and investing in an important sector, and I think we’re being successful.”

Gallagher said he is hopeful the government’s LTEP will include some of the REAO’s recommendations.

Renewable energy projects, he said, provide good jobs for members and the jurisdiction of Local 793 looks good in those sectors, as Operating Engineers are running forklifts and doing rigging on the projects.

On staffing, Gallagher said the local has 147 staff members across the province and 19.7 per cent have been hired in the last two years.

As a result, he said, the local will continue to train staff and develop internal policies so knowledge is passed to newer recruits as older members retire.

One duty of the business manager, he said, is to ensure new staff is being hired and knowledge is being transferred.

“We’ve worked way to darn hard over the 20 years I have been here to lose one iota of momentum. We’re not forgetting that we have to take care of business in-house as we look to retirements of senior people.”

Also at the meeting:

  • Gallagher said the local had 22 jurisdictional disputes (JDs) when it left the Provincial Building Trades organization a few years ago and now has only one. The rest were settled in favour of Local 793. He noted the local also signed a Mutual Co-operation Agreement with LIUNA Local 183 and reports suggest it is working.
  • The insurance committee voted to add retiree Brian Madigan to the list of honorary lifetime members. Brian was area supervisor for Northwestern Ontario, a trustee and executive board member, and pension and training trustee.

General Membership Meeting on Sept. 24

Please be advised that a general membership meeting of the union is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017. The meeting is being held in the OE Banquet Hall, adjacent to the union’s head office at 2245 Speers Road in Oakville. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. Click here for the OE Banquet Hall location.

Please be advised that a general membership meeting of the union is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017.

The meeting is being held in the OE Banquet Hall, adjacent to the union’s head office at 2245 Speers Road in Oakville.

The meeting begins at 10 a.m.

Click here for the OE Banquet Hall location.

Local 793 Participates in Terry Fox Run

Local 793 is supporting the 2017 Terry Fox Run in Oakville on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017. Business manager Mike Gallagher is encouraging all union members and staff to participate in, or donate, to the cause. The event is being held at Coronation Park, 1426 Lakeshore Road West, near Third Line, in Oakville. Registration is at […]

Local 793 is supporting the 2017 Terry Fox Run in Oakville on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017.

Business manager Mike Gallagher is encouraging all union members and staff to participate in, or donate, to the cause.

The event is being held at Coronation Park, 1426 Lakeshore Road West, near Third Line, in Oakville. Registration is at 9 a.m. with runs starting at 10 a.m. Local 793 participants will gather by the main stage (left side). There is no parking on site.

Participants can run, walk, bicycle, rollerblade, do the route in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller or walking the dog.

Route distances are two, five and 10 kilometres.

Fruit will be provided and there will be activities for children.

Please click here to register and donate. Under the ‘Run Team Search’ tab look for IUOE, Local 793. Then click on the link and register or login.

Click here for the park location.

Click here for more information about the Terry Fox Foundation.

Appointment Made to Union Board

Please be advised that Andre Chenier tendered his resignation as a Local 793 Trustee on Aug. 18, 2017. In accordance with Article XXIV, Subdivision 1, Section (f) of the IUOE Constitution, and as a result of an Officer’s Meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, business rep Jeff Hewitt has been appointed as a Local 793 […]

Please be advised that Andre Chenier tendered his resignation as a Local 793 Trustee on Aug. 18, 2017.

In accordance with Article XXIV, Subdivision 1, Section (f) of the IUOE Constitution, and as a result of an Officer’s Meeting held Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, business rep Jeff Hewitt has been appointed as a Local 793 Trustee to fill the unexpired term.

Deadline Approaching for Student Award Program

Applications for the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada student award program were available online as of Sept. 1, 2017. Deadline for applications is Oct. 13, 2017. To qualify, an applicant must be a son, daughter or ward of a person whose principal income is derived from the pipeline construction industry. The parent or guardian […]

Applications for the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada student award program were available online as of Sept. 1, 2017.

Deadline for applications is Oct. 13, 2017.

To qualify, an applicant must be a son, daughter or ward of a person whose principal income is derived from the pipeline construction industry. The parent or guardian of the applicant must be employed or have a history of employment with a company that is a member or partner of the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada.

Click here for an online application form. For more information, contact the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada at 905-847-9383 or email plcac@pipeline.ca.

Offices Closed on Labour Day Monday

Please be advised that all Local 793 offices across the province will be closed for Labour Day on Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.

Please be advised that all Local 793 offices across the province will be closed for Labour Day on Monday, Sept. 4, 2017.

Regular office hours will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.

Local 793 Members Invited to Labour Day Parades

Local 793 members and their families are being encouraged to march in a number of Labour Day parades and attend events being held across the province on Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. Union shirts and hats will be supplied. Following are details about the parades and events in various districts: Toronto Please assemble by 8 a.m. […]

Local 793 members and their families are being encouraged to march in a number of Labour Day parades and attend events being held across the province on Monday, Sept. 4, 2017. Union shirts and hats will be supplied. Following are details about the parades and events in various districts:

Toronto

Please assemble by 8 a.m. on the east side of University Avenue north from Queen Street West to Armoury Street. The parade starts at 9:30 a.m. Union apparel will be supplied upon identification of being a Local 793 member. At the end of the parade, members will be admitted free to the CNE grounds.

Hamilton

Members, please note that there is a change to the assembly location and the parade route this year. Please assemble by 10 a.m. on Stuart Street at Caroline Street North. The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and heads south on Bay Street, east on Main Street to James Street, north on James Street to Strachan Street, west on Strachan to Harbour Front Drive and into Bay Front Park. A barbecue and picnic will be held following the parade at Bay Front Park

Ottawa

Please assemble by noon at Ottawa City Hall at Elgin and Lisgar streets. The parade will end at McNabb Park at Gladstone and Bronson avenues. There will be a picnic at the park from 1 to 4 p.m. with pony rides, games, clowns, face painting, live music and food.

Belleville

Local 793 members and their families can march in the Kingston parade sponsored by the Kingston and District Labour Council. Please assemble by 10 a.m. at McBurney (Skeleton) Park. The parade starts at 10:30 a.m. and ends at city hall. There will be a picnic, live music and a free barbecue in the park after the parade.

London

Local 793 is sponsoring a picnic for members and their families at East Park, 1275 Hamilton Rd., in London. The picnic runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Hats, t-shirts and jackets will be provided.

Windsor

Please assemble by 9 a.m. at the corner of Seneca Street and Turner Road. The parade will start at 10 a.m. from the Unifor Local 200/444 Union Hall. The parade route is along Walker Road to North Service Road and on to the Fogolar Fulan Club. The parade is sponsored by the Windsor District Labour Council. There will be free hot dogs, pop and water while supplies last.

Sarnia

Please assemble at 8:30 a.m. behind the Sarnia Public Library on Julia Street. The parade will start at 9:30 a.m. Food and refreshments will be offered following the parade at the union hall at 1390A Lougar Ave.

Sault Ste. Marie

Members can meet at the Sault Ste. Marie office at 432 Great Northern Rd. at 10:15 a.m. and from there they can proceed down to the Roberta Bondar Tent Pavilion to assemble for the parade which starts at 11:15 a.m.

Sudbury

Members are invited to a Labour Day picnic at the Sudbury office at 430 Westmount Ave., Unit H. The picnic runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Timmins

Members can gather at Local 793’s hall at 54 Waterloo Rd between 10 and 11 a.m. A Labour Day Walk will begin at 11 a.m. and go around Gillies Lake. A barbecue and family activities will be held at Gillies Lake beginning at noon.

Thunder Bay

Members can attend a Labour Day picnic at the Current River Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is organized by the Thunder Bay District Labour Council. If it’s raining, the picnic will be held on Sept. 5.